Broom-protecting jacket.



A. B. DOLAN. BROOM PROTECTING JACKET. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1912.

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ANN E. IDOLAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BROOM-PROTECTING JACKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

Application filed November 21, 1912. Serial No. 732,654.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANN E. DOLAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Broom-Protecting Jackets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference belng had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved twopart broom protecting jacket, and has for its object the production of a device for reinforcing or stiffening the body portions of brooms so as to hold the weak and flexible straws in their original shape, thereby increasing the life and eiiiciency of the brooms.

Figure I is a side elevation of a broom equipped with one of my improved broom protecting jackets. Fig. II is a perspective view of the broom protecting jacket. Fig. III is an enlarged perspective view of one of the jacket members. Fig. IV is an enlarged cross section taken on line IV-IV, Fig. I.

In the accompanying drawings :A designates a broom provided with the usual handle.B.

My improved broom protecting jacket is in the form of a pair of stiff jacket members tightly fitted to the middle portion of the broom, and adapted to be adjusted longitudinally and transversely of the broom.

The invention comprises a pair of sheet metal jacket members 1 adjustably connected to each other and adapted to com binedly embrace the body portion of the broom. Each jacket member 1 conforms to the shape of approximately one half of the broom, and is substantially U-shaped in cross section and contracted about one-third of its length from the top.

2 designates eyes formed in the inner margins of the jacket members for the reception of laces 3 and 4, which are threaded through said eyes to produce an adjustable connection between the jacket members. After the jacket is properly located on the broom, the laces 3 and 4: are tightened to pull the acket sections toward each other; and when the desired adjustment is obtained, the ends of the laces are tied in suitable knots, as shown in Figs. I and II.

A quite important feature of this invention lies in the independently adjustable laces 3 and 4: whereby the upper portion of the protector may be very tightly adjusted onto the rigid upper portion of the broom while the lower portion of the protector is held so that it will yield with the flexible lower portion of the broom. The protector may be positively held in any desired position on the broom by drawing the upper laces 3 very tightly, the sole function of these upper laces being to firmly bind the protector onto the broom. To obtain the desired sweeping action, the lower laces 4L are adjusted to any degree desired by the user, so that the lower portion of the broom will have the desired flexibility. These independently adjustable laces are an essential feature of my invention, for the reason that they hold the protector very tightly at a point where the broom structure is rigid, and at the same time permit the protector to yield at points where the broom structure is flexible.

To prevent the jacket from slipping while the broom is in service, the top and inner edges of the jacket members are corrugated or fluted, as shown most clearly in Fig. III. These corrugated or fluted edges are firmly forced against the broom straws, and, they, therefore, serve to prevent the jacket from slipping after it has been adjusted to the desired position.

It is highly desirable to hold the jacket against any movement on a broom to which it is applied and I therefore provide, as a means for holding it, a retainer C formed from a piece of wire and comprising a main member 5 that extends through the jacket and the broom. The retainer also comprises an arm 6 extending laterally from the main member and having a finger 7 parallel with the main member, which is embedded in the broom. The retainer C is adapted to be passed through the jacket and broom so that the arm 6 will lie against the jacket, as seen in Fig. IV, and the far end of the main member of the retainer is then bent over onto the jacket to hold the retainer in its serviceable position. The retainer C is applied to the broom protecting acket at such a point that it will extend through the head of the broom'adjacent to the stitching entering into the broom head structure and, consequently, the stitching serves as a means that may be engaged by the retainer to preflentd; movement of the jacket on the broom I claim A broom protecting jacket comprising a pair of sheet metal jacket members substantially U-shaped in cross section, adapted to combinedly embrace the body portion of a broom, each of said sheet metal'jacket members being provided-with substantially hori: zontal corrugations at its inner margins and substantially vertical corrugations at its top margin, said jacket members being provided with eyes adjacent to the corrugations at their inner margins, and a pair ofupper laces 3 and a pair of lower laces-4 threaded through said eyes, andiconnecting the upper bers onto the rigid upper portion of the broom while the lower laces permit the lower portions of said jacket members to yield with the flexible lower portion of the broom.

ANN E. DOLAN.

In the presence of A. J. MCCAULEY, E. B. LINN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for flve cents each, byagldressing the Commissioner ofiatents,

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